The US is ramping up the pressure on Iran, and Europe is getting stuck in the middle

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• The US has shown little willingness to relent on its pressure campaign against Iran, but Iran has shown little sign it is prepared to bend to the pressure.
• European powers have little interest in moving quickly with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action's dispute-resolution process they triggered in early January, which they hope will limit Iranian nuclear activities.
• The US will continue to expand sanctions pressure on Iran but is nearing the limits of the strategy's efficacy and so will turn to even harsher measures, including trying to force European countries into a more aggressive stance against Iran or seeking to snap back UN sanctions on its own.
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Tensions between the United States and Iran will almost certainly escalate once again later this year as Iran's nuclear program continues to expand.

In recent weeks, Iranian officials have threatened to leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and suspend its Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency if it faces renewed, or "snapped back," UN sanctions. Iran's threats come after Europe decided to trigger the dispute resolution mechanism of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal (JCPOA). But the so-called E3 bloc consisting of France, Germany and the United Kingdom has little desire to trigger a UN sanctions snapback just now.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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